LA Almazara – the World’s First Signature Olive Oil Mill – Opens in Ronda, Spain

Designed by Philippe Starck, internationally renowned for his visionary creativity, LA Almazara reflects a passion and respect for tradition, culture, and nature of Andalusia. The designer has created a unique and immersive place, housing a working oil press for the LA Organic brand, a museum, as well as a restaurant, which together celebrate the magic of Southern Spain’s gastronomic olive oil.

The Luxury Editor visited one of our favourite destinations in the Mediterranean, the historic, picturesque town of Ronda, surrounded by the striking landscapes of the Serranía de Ronda, in the Southern Spanish province of Malaga.

We were privileged guests of a pre-inauguration tour of the new LA Almazara, designed by Philippe Starck, a working olive oil mill that is also an architectural work of art, and a centre honouring excellence in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

LA Organic

This structure is extraordinary. When I met Philippe Starck during the visit, he described it as ‘exaggerated, monumental, abnormal, beyond human scale.’ It certainly makes an impact and is set to further consolidate Ronda as a destination for culture and gastronomy.

Here’s a glance of the interior.

LA Almazara is part of the LA Organic estate in Ronda, which includes a stylish boutique hotel.

You can read more about The Luxury Editor profile review of the LA Organic Experience here.

Wine and Olive Oil

For lovers of gastronomy and wine, Ronda is a compelling destination. There’s an array of chic boutique hotels offering stylish accommodation in the area, and the mountain town has some superb tapas bars and even a Michelin-starred restaurant, Bardal.

There are also several fascinating and sophisticated boutique wineries, which have since the 1980s brought the art of wine making back the area since the impact of Phylloxera.  Wine making and olive oil production has been part of the culture since the Phoenicians and Romans.

LA Almaraza is part of the gastronomic renaissance in the Ronda. Conceived by investor Pedro Gómez de Baeza, and LA Organic’s CEO Santiago Muguiro (both inspired by the signature wineries of Rioja, by architects Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava) and brought to life by the French designer Philippe Starck, LA Almazara is an immense and innovative space that fuses olive oil tradition and architectural innovation. Each element of the building is designed to be both functional and aesthetically impressive.

Inside La Almazara

Built into a hillside overlooking Ronda’s verdant valley, LA Amazara has three main levels. As you step into the vast, dimly lit space you are greeted by a huge faceless figure, a sculpture that looks over stairs that lead down to the museum level, passing tributes to great innovators from Ronda including Abbas Qasim ibn Firnas, who in 9^th century Al Andalus built a glider, and Pedro Romero the 18th-century bullfighter.

Then storytelling continues to the lower level where these is a restaurant, that opens onto an outdoor dining deck.

Here the shadowy interior is suddenly dazzled by a rectangle of light that extends onto the terrace which is suspended by huge metal chains. In the centre of the interior is the olive hopper, which collects the fruit before feeding them down to the working olive mill below, visible through the glass floor. There is a tasting and events space too.

Philippe Starck has opted for a minimal and timeless design, with no superfluous details, creating a monolithic terracotta cube, with immense steel bull’s horns (one inside and one out) and a gigantic eye cast in concrete. The eye to illustrate the vigilance of the great Andalusian surrealist artists, while of the other side of the building is a monumental half olive made from oxidised steel which is embedded in the exterior wall.

Destination Ronda

It has taken a decade to realise the dream of the LA Almazara. Initially, the project was greeted with controversy, as some locals were unsure about having such a huge structure in a beautiful natural area. I asked Philippe Starck about this – challenging him to reconcile his love of nature with constructing this vast mill. He explained that his respect for nature is paramount, but he feels that often natural landscapes can be enhanced by spectacular, thoughtful architecture. Too often nature is degraded by thoughtless, ugly, and mundane development. But with a signature, bold and thoughtful construction the beauty of nature can be enhanced by the built environment.

It is hoped that with the opening of LA Almazara, the culture, history, and tradition of one of the flagship products of Spanish gastronomy, EVOO, will be elevated and Ronda will consolidate its position as an international destination for not only olive oil tourism scene but design too.

Information

LA Almazara offers 4 levels of visitor experience, from the Basic including an audio guide, right up to the Exclusive which included helicopter transfer, private guide, wine tasting, gastronomy, and olive oil tasting.